1. Field of the invention
This invention relates generally to the cargo bed of pickup trucks and in particular to a means for dividing the cargo bed into one or more areas adjustable in size.
2. Description of the problem and relevant prior art
The current increase in the utilization of the pickup truck as a means of transportation also sees the vehicle used for non commercial uses. Where the pickup truck with its eight foot standard bed was designed with the idea of transporting sand, bags of cement, shovels, lumber and other equipment now we see more often the cargo bed loaded with bags of groceries, bicycles and garden tools. One complaint of the truck bed is that for many domestic uses it is too large. Bags of groceries fail over and the contents slide and roll around the inside of the bed. Bicycles, tricycles and little red wagons slide and roll around the inside of the bed, slamming against the front panel upon braking and the tailgate upon acceleration.
There is a need for a simple, easily adjustable apparatus that is compatible with a truck bed and which will allow the size of the bed to be varied to fit the size of the cargo transported.
Devices and systems have been suggested to provide variations and compartmentalization of the cargo compartment of a pickup truck but none are continuously variable and as easy to operate as the invention disclosed and claimed herein. U.S. Patents showing examples of prior art attempts to solve the problem include: U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,899 issued Mar. 29, 1988 to Keys for a pickup truck cargo bed divider that includes a vertical baffle that abuts the wheel well projecting into the wheel well facing either forward or aft of the rear axle, changing the size of the cargo area; U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,599 issued May 30, 1989 to Gordon et al. for a truck bed divider which consists of two arm members extending axially from a connector and contain a suction cup at each end which engages the inner sidewall of the truck bed and thereby restrains the cargo; U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,429 issued Apr. 17, 1990 to Giger for a truck bed divider assembly which shows a series of panels forming in the manner of an egg carton divider; U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,472 issued May 4, 1993 to Gower for a one piece truck bed liner including channels to support dividing means, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,993 issued Nov. 30, 1993 to Wayne for a truck bed divider system that includes a system of panels connected to the walls of the truck bed and each other by brackets and cooperative hooks.
The references taken alone or in combination fail to anticipate the invention disclose herein.